ISIS fighters say they overran large military base in Syrian city

PanARMENIAN.Net - Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) say they have overrun a large Syrian military base on the outskirts of the city of Raqqa, according to BBC News.

The Islamist fighters have released images of captured soldiers being beheaded after the battle for the base.

The Syrian army did not confirm that the base had fallen, but said it was organizing a counter-attack, the BBC says.

ISIS already controls much of Raqqa province, and recently seized a swathe of territory in neighboring Iraq. The group, which has changed its name to Islamic State, describes the territory under its control in Iraq and Syria as a caliphate.

The Raqqa base, manned by Division 17 of the Syrian army, is said to have been captured overnight after coming under siege from Isis fighters.

According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group that monitors casualties in the conflict, the assault on the base began with two suicide car bomb attacks. Meanwhile, Syrian army helicopters attacked Isis positions around the base.

Scores of ISIS fighters and government soldiers were killed or hurt in the attack, the group said.

The base is the largest of its kind in north-eastern Syria, and is said to be well-stocked with weapons and ammunition.